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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1944.PDF
426 FLIGHT International, 6 September 1962 INDUSTRY International... better range capability. Upper Hey ford TVOR was clearly received from 25 n.m. at 1,300ft. Epsom NDB and London VOR were both received on the ground at Fair Oaks and both Birmingham locators came in very clearly on the ground at that airfield. The manual aerial was not as easy to use as an ADF dial, but the adjustable bearing ring made magnetic as opposed to relative bearings very easy to obtain. The Birming ham localizer was also captured and fol lowed quite easily. The Safir is delightful to fly, but rather noisy, and the vibration did somewhat shake the c.r.t. traces; but the equipment proved easy to use while also piloting the aircraft. Brightness control, a rotatable hood and vertical and horizontal shift controls allowed the traces to be positioned and seen very clearly. The set could be switched from MF to VOR and back suf ficiently quickly for cross-bearings to be taken during cross-country flying. Installation, accessibility and general finish are good and the whole system has proved small enough to be installed in the confines of an Aircoupe cockpit, as shown overleaf. Installation of MF and VHF navigation in one system is probably unique, but the addition of a VHF transmitter to complete the communications side would be attractive. Because of this difference from the normal layout, it is difficult to make a direct comparison with existing equipment, but the combination of Beam- tracker and a VHF communications unit might well prove less costly and simpler to install than the same combination of services in existing equipment of compar able performance. If allowance is made for the lesser degree of automation of the manual DF aerial, the Beamtracker ap peared to perform in much the same way as Flight International's Motorola equipment. Products Iridium Sparking Plugs New types of K.L.G. sparking plugs for piston aero engines, believed to be the first in the world to have iridium instead of conventional platinum alloy electrodes, have gained ARB approval and have been undergoing intensive field trials with several operators and engine manufacturers over the past year. The aim is to increase the life of plugs, at present prone to premature failure under certain kinds of operating conditions. The new plugs, type KB-5, have been approved for fitment to several types of Hercules engines installed in civil aircraft. Platinum alloy, long used for plug electrodes, suffers from chemical attack by the lead content of high octane aviation spirit and this seriously reduces the platinum's resistance to spark erosion, lead ing to a rapid increase in gap siz; and eventual plug failure. The element iridium, a close relation of platinum, has a superior resistance to lead but is harder; and its attendant brittleness has ruled it out for sparking plugs. But Johnson, Matthey & Co, Britain's largest producers of precious metals for industry, A three-view photograph of the new pitot head (described in col 2 below) by Research and Engineering Controls Ltd were able to modify the basic iridium and in 1960 produced it in an acceptable form. Flight trials of experimental K.L.G. plugs using the new electrode are still in progress, but results obtained so far indicate that the company have eliminated the chemical attack by the lead content of high octane aviation spirit. New Pitot Head Research and Engineer ing Controls Ltd, of South Bersted Indus trial Estate, Bognor Regis, Sussex, announce an aircraft pitot pressure head suitable for use on subsonic or supersonic aircraft at altitudes up to 100,000ft and within a pressure range of 1 to lOOin Hg. Designed for minimum aerodynamic drag, low dependence on incidence angles, long ser vice life and optimum self-regulating de- icing and anti-icing capabilities, the tube is claimed to have passed the most stringent wind-tunnel icing tests (which included use of dry-ice crystals) simulating flight at angles of attack up to 25°. The tube, which is supported by a strut shaped to an RAE 103 aerofoil section, incorporates hermetically sealed, automatic ally regulated heater elements unaffected by continuous operation in still air at ambient temperatures of up to 70°C. In addition, endurance tests at — 70°C and 540°C have been successfully completed. Company News Dr Hilton's New Post Dr W. F. Hilton, BSC, PhD., FRAes, Die, ARCS, until recently head of the Astronautics Group of Hawker This is the remarkable hand-fired distress rocket —described on page 3SS of last week's issue— which ejects a cloud of radar-reflective par ticles at a height of over 1,200ft. The makers are the Schermuly Pistol Rocket Apparatus Ltd, of Newdigate, Surrey Siddeley Aviation Ltd, has become an asso ciate cf Perspective Engineering Ltd and his services are available to the com pany as an additional member of its con sultants panel. Perspective Engineering is a recently launched concern specializing in project development, technical literature and illustrations, creative design, drafting and model making; it has offices at 25-27 Oxford Street, London Wl (Regent 2371- 4) and studio facilities at Kingston-upon- Thames, Surrey. Dr Hilton was previously with Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Ltd as chief aerodynamicist (1950-59); he was a pioneer of high-speed wind tunnels in the UK before the war, when he worked at the NPL. Northrop Ventura Representative Mr William C. Rounds has been appointed European and Middle East representative for the Ventura Division (formerly Radio- plane Division) of Northrop Corporation, with offices at 12 Rue Hamelin, Paris 16e. He succeeds Mr Hawley Russell, who re cently became director of European opera tions for Northrop International (Flight International, August 16). Mr D. J. G. Rowe We regret to record that Mr D. J. G. Rowe, BSC, chief metal lurgist of Mining & Chemical Products Ltd, died recently. He was 57. He had been with the company for more than 25 years, and in an obituary tribute they state that he "will be chiefly remembered for his work in the development in the use of cerro alloys in the United Kingdom, particularly in the aircraft industry." Fairchild-Stewart Agreement The Fair- child Camera and Instrument Corporation, Syosset, New York, have appointed Stewart Aeronautical Supply Co Ltd their exclusive sales representatives in the United Kingdom for their defence products division. Its products include complete reconnaissance systems for aircraft, missiles and drones, including photo, rear television and infra red sensors with the added capability of photo-transmission to the ground; auto matic and semi-automatic equipment for data reducing and handling of photographic material; and camera systems for stabilization, special purpose reconnaissance and precision mapping. AVM S. O. Bufton, CBE, DFC, RAF (Ret), will be the SASCO director responsible for liaison with Fairchild Corporation. Needing Space for Expansion, the Anti- coustic Co, makers of "Nosonic" headsets and ear defenders, have moved to Sonic House, Woodbridge Road, Guildford, Surrey (Guildford 66488).
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